Fantastic book with flashes of brilliance that would eventually evolve into the masterpieces of Criminal and the Reckless saga.

This...was not what I expected, and yet I still loved it. I've read a lot of Brubaker over the years, and quite a few of his new comics recently even, all of which usually have a certain underlying darkness to them. Naturally, I was expecting 'Where the Body Was' to be of similar tone - and it wasn't, but that didn't disappoint me.

Brubaker and Phillips team together for another fitting collaboration featuring a story about a dead body, but which isn't really about a dead body (lol). These two are great at illustrating, both literally and figuratively, the internal lives of people. Not that Brubaker can't weave a good story (this one is a great example of one of his best, imo), but he really shines with his character work, which is put on full display here. At the end of the comic is the author's note where calls 'Where the Body Was' a romance comic... and, yeah, that's kind of spot on.

"...I started out with a crime story and ended up with a romance comic, sort of, one that's a bit of a microcosm of different aspects of love and romance and how we are when we're caught up in them." - Ed Brubaker, Where the Body Was Afterword

Now - don't be scared away if romance isn't your thing. This about love of all kinds and the various ways it manifests and can change people, for good or bad. Like a gritty Love, Actually. The dead body isn't the point, it's the catalyst for the people of Pelican Road to share their story with the audience because of their role in the death, or because of how it impacted them. The main story (of the body) is set in 1984, but about halfway in it becomes obvious the characters are, literally, telling their stories to the reader/audience. It feels like a true crime documentary. We get to see some of these characters in the future/present and what becomes of their lives and the relationships they had while living on Pelican Road. There's also a heavy dose of nostalgia of all kinds, which I always enjoy.

The story winds in unexpected, and yet also unsurprising(?), ways, and near the end the reader -almost- forgets the story was about the dead body in the first place haha But, no worries! Brubaker does reveal who was responsible... and, without spoiling anything, having just gone done an internet rabbit hole recently about murders being treated as "accidental deaths", I really, really love the reveal!

No surprise 'Where the Body Was' another hit from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips!

Thanks to Net Galley and Image and Sean and Ed for an early look at this graphic novel, a stand alone as we await the return of the Reckless series. This story, we learn in an afterword, was an attempt at answering Sean’s request to Ed that he write a romance, but, well, it doesn’t quite work out, too sad for that, but it’s superbly crafted, nevertheless. I’d say it was sort of an average story for this team, maybe 3.5 for them, but 5 stars, it’s that good.

Everything takes place on one suburban street. A girl who reads comics (a theme in Brubaker) plays teen sleuth in a superhero costume, with a homeless guy who is also in disguise. A neighborhood guy bullies people with his dead father’s cop badge (disguise) and is having an affair with a therapist’s wife (yeah, everybody’s got a secret, and they are all entwined in one block, all of the pretending to be someone else.

Superhero girl has a crush on a guy who is doing drugs with an unfaithful woman; they burgle houses to get cash for their fixes. And threatens him with going to the cops if he doesn’t stop…. But she’s not the only one who knows stuff. . .

We don’t learn of the murder plot til way late, and we’re in the future with a lot of these people having gone their separate ways and looking back as if it were some true crime blog. The opening frame is a map of the neighborhood to reference. And at the end a panel suggests: If you want to know what happened, turn the page…

Maybe the unique thing here is the interconnections on one street, and the fact that everyone is pretending. Original idea? That’s not the point. It’s a kind of story Brubaker loves, and he’s the master.

I'm a little biased, but Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are THE dynamic duo. This romantic little murder mystery set in the suburbs of 1984 America had me so invested I forgot that someone was supposed to die half way through the book. I loved every page!

I was able to score an advanced copy of “Where The Body Was” from Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips. Anyone who has read any of the Criminal or Reckless books, will know ahead of time what they are getting into. You’re getting a crime, mystery type book, but under that surface? It’s always so much more.

From reading the description of the book, it seems like it will play out much like every other Brubaker/Phillips collaboration, but then you open it to find a map of this small neighborhood and I should have knew then that this time, things wouldn’t be the same. Looking over the map, you see where most of the locales from the book are specifically located, like one of those pulp books from the 40’s. You can easily flip between this map and the page after where the “Cast of Characters” lies, to see where each person will come into play in the neighborhood of “Pelican Road.” You get really drawn into the story from there, just by looking at these two pages before you get thrown right into the mix of things. So this is like a crime podcast it says, right? We going to solve a murder mystery? That’s what you came here for, right?

This book is really not about where the body WAS, but more about where the bodies ARE. By this, I mean the people involved in the story. The creative team behind the book is well known for crime stories, but at this heart of these? Great characters. Like Tommy and Karina, the juvenile delinquents. Then there’s the psychiatrist, his wife, and the not-so-much-a-cop next door who she cheats on her husband with. There’s the little girl Lila who dresses up like a superhero and the homeless guy, Ranko, who stays behind the 7-11. You get so much of these characters, their lives all intertwined together, and you get so wrapped up before you realize….

Wait, where’s the dead person at? You’re moving from perspective to perspective of the neighborhood’s cast of main players, having themselves narrate their own sections from the future like a true crime documentary, reading into every little bit of information you get. You have this either love or hate relationship with everyone you meet. Sure Palmer is pretending to be a cop and sleeping with another man’s wife, but you kind of like the guy for some reason. Like I said though, that dead body still hasn’t shown up, until it finally does.

It ends not too long after that. Maybe all this time, where the body was, didn’t mean that dead body. Maybe there’s more to that. After reading through it a couple of times, I can easily see where Brubaker was try to do more with that title. It never even bothered me to be honest with you. I was hooked from the beginning, as a lover of characters, and I never wanted the story to end. Completely forgot about the premise of the book until it actually happened. That’s how good this team is. They give you something amazing, no matter what you thought you were getting out of it before you dove in.

I’ve said it a bunch of times before and I’ll say it more than just now. Brubaker and Phillips are the best duo is comics. Period. It’s not even close. No two people together can even touch the surface of what this team have already and will accomplish. They always deliver and “Where The Body Was” is another classic brought to us all, from the all-time greats.

A great offering from Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips.
You know from the start there is a body and you work through the graphic novel in different timelines to try and workout who is the murderer.
The sex scenes were extremely graphic, but the overall story was great. I would have loved to explore the characters more.
Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

Opening with a map and portraits of the 9 main characters, Where the Body Was provides a nice little drama that slowly builds to an explosive climax. It is 1974 in a suburban cul-de-sac at a boarding house with a fight broken up by a man with a badge. There are runaways, juvenile delinquents, bored housewives, Vietnam vets, a private eye, a young girl in a cape on roller skates, and a snoopy older lady in the cast of characters. Each character tells their part of the story which comes together in a mosaic of comprehension at the end. Plenty of action, plenty of drama, even a bit of romance is found through this graphic novel. Brubaker and Phillips have done a marvelous job of bring the 1970's back to life in this tale.

Thanks Netgalley and Image Comics for the chance to read this tale!

The book is called "Where the Body Was" so you know eventually someone is gonna die, but most of this book is a mystery not of whodunit, but "whogonnagetit." The body doesn't show up til around three quarters of the way through, after we've been introduced to around a dozen characters, most of whom are involved in storylines that could reasonably get them killed. There are hints given out on who survives by the style of story being told, that of present day people telling a story from their past. As characters are revealed breaking the fourth wall you can cross them off the list of who the body will be. It's a different approach than the usual Brubaker/Phillips novel where there's plenty of dead from beginning to end.

I liked the book but I don't think it quite stuck the landing, it felt a bit rushed. I don't want to give too much detail to what disappointed me in the ending, I'll just say that the twist in the direction of the story was cool but that maybe they could have somehow given more time to the original direction too.

Sean Phillips is a hell of an artist and I'm not sure what more to say about his part in this book than that.

Fun read, quick read. Less violence than you would expect from these guys, and more porn (try reading it in a coffee shop like I did. Woops. Hunch those shoulders high and curl over the book). It's middle of the road for me when compared to their other books but some people will love this style.

I LOVE the collaborations of Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips. This story and art did not disappoint. I enjoyed the character development, the people have such rich histories and to be able to convey that within a limited number of panels and pages is mad skills.

Pick this up if you love Brubaker and Phillips. Pick this up if you love suspense. Can't wait to read it again in print form.

Great story with a lot of depth

Where the Body Was is described as "a tale of love and murder in the suburbs, told from a dozen different points of view. All the neighbors on the block have an opinion about the murder and how it happened, but which of them is telling the truth?" The truth is that this story is about far more than just a murder and a body. While the focus on the body throughout is very compelling, keeps the reader guessing, and is a fun premise for each of the neighbors to be "interviewed" about what they experienced, the real story involves love, loss, and the memories we carry with us through life. Some of these memories we wish we could change and some we are glad we cannot. The story also shows how our view of these memories can change over time as we experience more and grow older, possibly to the extent that our desire to alter those events from our past lessen as we get on with our lives, accept what our past holds, and learn to live with them.

I was immediately drawn in with the interview style of this book and how interesting, funny, and real each of these characters are. I mean, come on, who doesn't love Mrs. Wilson. Each character has their own view of what happened and most also have their own secrets, which is fun to learn about as the story moves along. We also get to learn about each of the main characters outside of just what happened with the body.

The illustrations do a fantastic job of bringing the story to life with their level of detail. I really enjoyed seeing the characters at different stages in their life and how they changed as time passed.

I will definitely be reading more by Brubaker and Phillips.

I'm a big Brubaker fan so I was very excited to check this one out. The title says it all - we are following a cast of characters who are being interviewed after finding a dead body. Who is the murderer? The mystery throughout was intriguing and I enjoyed the characters, especially the neighborhood superhero. But it ultimately fell into the realm of a decent read for me. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. The ending really fell flat for me and I think had it ended in a different way I would have enjoyed this more. However, I'll still be picking up all future Brubaker/Phillips books and would still recommend this as an enjoyable read.

What did I just read? A comic book? A porno? Whatever it was, I wasn’t a fan. I have never read a graphic novel before, but decided to to give this one a shot because it sounded intriguing. It was really vulgar and confusing. This may have been my first and last graphic novel if that’s what they are.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Available January 16, 2024

I read the plot of this book and knew it would be right up my alley but despite that when I started reading it I wasn't sure about it. As the story continued and you delved into each character's story I found myself getting more invested in what would be revealed and the characters themselves. Where the Body Was delivered a gritty and interesting whodunit story that is definitely worth the read if you're a fan of the genre.

I really liked this story. I liked how the narrative kept changing to each person in the story. I even liked the sad ending. This is only the 2nd Brubaker book I've read, but I'm going to read more in the future.

While at times the perspectives were confusing, flashing forward and back in time through multiple characters point of view, this was a refreshing way to tell a story, especially a murder mystery. with a full cast of characters, beautifully illustrated, each person has a story to tell and a place in the narrative to the point that I forgot it was about a body being found. Every mystery has a twist but this one was more intriguing than expected.

A gripping story, I found the use of flashforwards really cool. Not something I've experienced in a comic before. Short and sweet as well, it achieves the perfect rhythm between switching pov's and when the next plot beat should happen.

I’m admittedly on the hook for anything Brubaker and Phillips release, having repeatedly proven to be the greatest creative partnership in comics, perhaps ever. Their latest collaboration just cements that reputation further, adding narrative complexity to a somewhat wistful tale exploring the motivations and character evolutions of all the residents of the story’s street. This is a team that just cannot miss in anything they do, and if you’re new to their works this may actually be the best entry point they’ve provided in quite some time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this graphic novel.

I've enjoyed a lot of the Brubaker/Phillips graphic novels such as Criminal, Fatale, and Reckless, so I was very excited to check out Where the Body Was.

Ostensibly about a dead body that appears in a neighborhood in the 80s, WtBW uses the viewpoints of different neighbors to weave together a mystery that doesn't reveal itself until the end. While maintaining a number of the pulpy aspects of their previous works, Where the Body Was has a little bit more heart and wistful nostalgia, and less of the grit and grime. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

#WheretheBodyWasgraphicnovel #NetGalley

Incredible.

Artwork to die for and a plot that is pure enjoyment.

Nothing Brubaker and Phillips do is ever less than perfect.

Ed Brubaker is a master of noir and comics pacing, and Sean Phillips brings this story to life. These creators, and the minds at Image Comics, continue to prove there’s more going on in comics than a single genre or work from DC and Marvel. Well worth the visit and stay.